Hawaiian Baked Beans in the Instant Pot

With the 4th of July coming up, I felt it was my duty to take one of my old favorite ridiculously easy recipes and make it much more complicated.

Well, that wasn’t exactly my thinking. I was pondering an update of this Hawaiian Baked Beans recipe to go with the Red Bean-Chipotle Burgers I made yesterday. As you can see from the recipe, it uses canned baked beans, which are full of sugar and salt, and I thought I could make some homemade baked beans that would be healthier and add pineapple to them. I planned to start with canned navy beans, so it would be a fairly quick recipe.

So I did what you do and sent my daughter to the grocery store. (At least that’s what I do, when she’s home from college and my husband’s at work; grocery shopping is not my thing.) She texted me to let me know that there were no canned navy beans on the shelves. I had her check several brands, but still no luck; people must be making a lot of baked beans! So I had her pick up some dried navy beans and began to rethink my plans.

I know what some of you are thinking (I’ve got email to prove it): You don’t have an Instant Pot, don’t want one, and think I talk about it way too much. Some of you even suspect I’m on the Instant Pot payroll. I’m not. (They’d want me to work way harder than I want to.) I do get a commission if you buy one through my Amazon link, but that goes for any Amazon product I choose to link to. If you want one, you don’t have to buy through my link, though I appreciate those who do; you can sign up for Amazon Smile and help your favorite charity. That’s what I do.

Anyway, I needed to use the Instant Pot so that I could get the beans cooked in time to write this before you start your 4th of July preparations. You can use any type of pressure cooker you like, and those of you who are experienced in converting recipes can convert this to a stove-top recipe. You really don’t have to have an Instant Pot, but it sure makes this much quicker to make.

Hawaiian Baked Beans, Low-Sugar Style

If you take a look at most other baked bean recipes, you’ll notice that they contain some combination (or even all of) the following:

maple syrup

brown sugar

molasses

ketchup

I didn’t want to use brown sugar so I’ve substituted dates. (If you’d rather use brown sugar, feel free to use it instead). And ketchup is another high-sugar ingredient, so I used tomato paste and a blend of seasonings to try to capture that ketchup taste. I did wind up adding a tablespoon of molasses because it really adds a depth of flavor I couldn’t quite achieve without it.

So how were they? Great! Even the daughter I sent to the store liked them, and she can be pretty picky about her beans.

If you don’t have an Instant Pot, be sure to check out my Smoky Apple Baked Beans, which are made with canned beans and baked in the oven.

A Word About Pressure Cooking Beans

It’s almost impossible to give a pressure cooking time that works for everyone because there are so many variables that affect beans: your altitude, the hardness of your water, and the age of the beans themselves (you never know how long they’ve been sitting on the grocer’s shelf). The times below are what worked for me with freshly bought beans, neutral city water, at 328 feet elevation. My beans came out almost too soft, but if you are at a higher altitude, you may need to add extra time. Consult this chart for more info.

Instructions

Rinse the beans and pick over them. Put them in the Instant Pot or other pressure cooker along with 6 cups water. Set cooker to cook at high pressure for 1 minute. Allow pressure to come down naturally for 20 minutes before releasing steam and opening pot. (See Notes below for other soaking options.)

Drain the beans and rinse the pot. Using the Sauté or Brown setting, begin heating the pot and add the onions. Cook until the onions begin to get some color to them, adding a splash of water every now and then to release stuck-on onions. When onions begin to brown, add the garlic and cook for another minute.

Put the chopped dates in a blender with 1 cup of the hot water. Blend until fairly smooth. Add to the onions and garlic, and stir and scrape the bottom of the pan to remove any stuck-on bits.

Add to the pot the drained beans, the second cup of hot water, maple syrup, soy sauce, mustard, salt, ginger, and black and red pepper. Seal the cooker and set it for 15 minutes at high pressure. When it's finished cooking, allow the pressure to come down naturally for 15 minutes before releasing steam and opening the pot.

Check the beans for doneness and liquid. If they are not all tender, close up the pot and give them more time (add liquid if they seem dry). Go through the same process of waiting for the pressure to come down naturally before opening the cooker.

When the beans are done, stir in the pineapple and all remaining ingredients. Switch pot to the lowest Sauté setting and cook until the beans have thickened, at least 10 minutes.

Check seasonings and add more pepper, syrup, salt, and smoked salt to taste. If the beans get too dry, add some of the reserved pineapple juice.

Notes

I found that doing a quick-soak in step 1 resulted in beans that were almost completely cooked. If you decide to soak your beans overnight instead of quick-soaking, you may need to start with 25 minutes, rather than 15. If you try to use unsoaked beans, you will need even more time and much more liquid (I don't recommend using unsoaked beans for this recipe.)

Reader Interactions

Comments

Out of curiosity, if I wanted to use canned beans and skip the from-scratch cooking step, how many cans of drained and rinsed beans should I use to substitute? (I’m never good at estimating the cooked volume of a given weight of dry beans). Thanks!

In this recipe, it’s because acidic ingredients like tomato paste and cider vinegar make beans tough and lengthen cooking time. Pineapple just doesn’t taste as good with long cooking. And pressure cooking leaches the flavor out of spices, so they need to be refreshed at the end.

One minute is correct! This is what they call a quick-soak–instead of soaking the beans overnight, you cook them for a minute and let them sit in the pressure cooker until the pressure comes down. They’re actually cooking the entire time.

Does the instant pot splatter bean gunk with the steam release after 20 min? I just tried garbanzos that were soaked over nite and followed another blog’s directions to cook 12 min, wait 20, then release pressure. ugh. I need more instructions:)!

It did not splatter anything for me this time. When I opened it after the first 1-minute “quick soak” there wasn’t any pressure left. When I opened it after the second cooking, there was just a little pressure left, not enough to spew out any gunk. What happened with your garbanzos? Were they cooked all the way through?

they were mush–I need to make a pureed soup or something out of them. I know I am going to have to keep practicing so I don’t give up with the Instant Pot. I had great results cooking dried , pre-soaked garbanzos in the crockpot. I really appreciate your help!

Lisa, You may not get this message since I am posting it 5 months later, but it may help other people. I cook garbanzo beans almost every week in my Instant Pot. I make a lot of hummus. I do not soak the beans or use the quick IP soak suggested by Susan. I simply put the dry beans in the IP with water. For each cup of garbanzo beans I add 3 cups of water. I usually add 3 cups of beans and 9 cups of water. I cook the beans for 53 minutes and let the pressure come down naturally. They come out perfect each time. I have NEVER gotten a splatter of bean gunk or foam.

I have a fairly similar recipe for which I use a slow cooker. I’m wondering if one could be used for this recipe too, if I cooked the beans first, sautéed the ingredients that needed it, then added everything together in the slow cooker and left it to cook at the low setting for about 6-8 hours? Thank you!

Hi Susan, I’m so excited to make your baked beans as I have been looking for years for a good vegan recipe. Sadly my tries have not been successful. One question, the juice from the pineapple that is reserved, it doesn’t go into this recipe? If I use it as part of the 2 cups of water do you think that would alter the way the beans cook? If I remember correctly pineapple has some sort of enzyme in it. What do you think?

Thanks for asking! I meant to note that you could add it at the end if the beans get too thick, but I forgot. So I will add that now. I think the enzyme thing has to do with gelatin gelling, but I also avoid putting anything acidic into the beans before they’re completely cooked because acid can toughen them.

I have been fat free vegan by choice for several years now. I started as a heart patient looking to increase my odds and ended up embracing the lifestyle for many reasons, including feeling better and loving the food, as well as the ethical benefits (also love animals, but not to eat) . Your recipe sounds good, but for a heart patient, the sodium content is unacceptable, but easy to correct. Whenever you add processed ingredients, use a salt free version, like salt free ketchup, or salt substitute instead of salt, etc. Whole plant foods are great, but the ingredients need closer attention. The salt should be avoided as well as the refined sugar in all recipes.

This looks so good and was going to make it this weekend until I noticed it makes 10 servings! I used the servings slide (great feature!!) to adjust but got such strange numbers that I don’t trust fudging it. Do you think leftovers would freeze well? I’d like to try it sometime. Thanks, Susan.

I’m cooking Rancho Gordo caballero beans (small white) in the oven right now. 🙂 I read recently that Instant Pot is coming out with a mini model in July and, if and when they do, I will purchase it through your affiliate. I have the 5-quart and have found it demotivating at times to use, primarily because of its size, since I generally can cut most recipes in half and still end up with large amounts of food. My IP has been on loan to my neighbor for a while, and she loves it, so if IP ends up selling a “mini,” I’ll likely just let her keep it. I’ve been cooking beans in my smaller Creusets in the oven, and of course they come out great every time but they do take longer! I’m also doing a major house konmari and trying to pare down my kitchen stuff. I live alone and I’m shocked at how much stuff I’ve accumulated. If you happen to hear about the mini IP for sale, don’t hesitate to announce it! Meanwhile, I can’t wait to get going on this recipe! Happy Fourth!

These baked beans are the best ever! I made them with what I had on hand, which meant using 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard in place of the dry mustard, subbing maple syrup for the molasses, and skipping the pineapple. I also used about 1/2 tsp regular salt and 1/2 tsp smoked salt. The resulting flavor was unmistakably that of classic baked beans, yet it was much more complex and satisfying than the canned stuff. And the beans were super creamy and tender but still held together — the quick soak IP method worked like a charm! This will be a staple in our house from now on. Thanks, Susan!

My son is also picky about his baked beans and always prefers canned baked beans. He liked these although he didn’t think they necessarily tasted like baked beans but I did. I’m glad they turned out great! Thanks.

I made this on July 4th as part of a healthier approach to the usual fare and I must say…it was a hit!!! Also it gets better the next day and I had it on toast for breakfast which was something extra special. I would definitely make this again and again!!!

Yum YUM! Made em in my slow cooker and put an instant pot on my birthday list. These beans taste great hot and cold and loved by teenagers who don’t usually eat baked beans and my husband who loves the canned variety but thought these were great. They became my base for all my vegan meals over the 4th! wanted to print the recipe so I didn’t loose it but couldn’t see a way to print just recipe but not comments. Any suggestions! Thanks for all the great food Molly Patrick!!

I’m so glad you liked them! If you’re on a desktop computer, there should be a print button inside the recipe itself, underneath the small photo. Some mobile devices (and Pinterest, oddly) direct you to a mobile page that strips out the recipe formatting, including the print link. I’m trying to get rid of these mobile pages, but it’s a long process. If you check the URL and it has “AMP” at the end, you can delete that and see the regular page with the printer link.

Oh this looks SO YUMMY!! I want to try it! I love food so much and eating clean and healthy foods is such a priority to me (check out my Peaches + Kale Summer Smoothie packed with all the nutritious vitamins here –> https://healthyhabits.sendlane.com/view/healthyhabits) Thanks so much for sharing this recipe!! Love your blog <3 xxo -Amber

I wanted to make your Hawaiian baked beans but all I had in the cupboard was a pound of dried red beans and no dates! Bottom line, they turned out delicious. I don’t know if the red beans take longer but I had to restart them twice after the initial minute precook and the first 15 minutes for another 15 each time with the slow release. I blended up fresh pineapple in the blender and it was over 20oz but I threw it all in anyway. Oh, and since I was out of dates I sinned and used Ketchup. So delicious and currently my eight year old granddaughter is slurping up a bowl as I type. I’ve followed you for years, but never have left a comment; My Bad! I love you blog, your pictures, and can’t believe that little girl you once experimented on to find the perfect Mac and Cheese is in college!! How time flies. Take care.

Thank you for leaving your first comment! I’m so touched that you’ve been following me through mac and cheese up to college. 😉 Yes, time does fly, and I’ll never get over how quickly kids grow up. They’re so precious at every age.

P.S. I’m happy to hear the recipe works with red beans. I’m not surprised they took longer–red beans seem to do that.

I just made these and they are fantastic! Great recipe. Only thing is the prep took me longer than the 10 minutes, between chopping, draining, measuring, sautéing … Well worth the time… just know I’d need to add a bit more time when making them next time. I add set for 17 minutes for the beans to cook the first time, as I did have to close pot and do another 4 minutes after the first round.

Just completed this recipe(minus the pineapple)…not sure if it will make it too sweet for us, just wanted to say that this is insanely tasty!!!!! Just a question….what does “lowest saute setting ” mean? My I.P. is 4 years old and there is only one saute setting…which is really hot. I waited for just a few minutes,as it was boiling and beginning to stick. Thanks for a great recipe…yours are ones I trust, kinda like Mary McDougalls😊

I’m glad it was good even without the pineapple! The Instant Pot Duo has three sauté setting that you choose with the adjust button. The Lux doesn’t, and that must be what you have. It sounds like you did just the right thing, stopping before it burned or stuck.

I am a Boston girl through and through. I grew up eating my mother’s Boston baked beans and through life I never cared for anything but. We had a friend of ours make us southern style white beans and I thought I would hurl. Sincerely, I have never like anything but Mom’s Boston baked beans.

Until today. Both my husband (also,from NE) and I loved this recipe! It was different for us but in a completely wonderful way. We absolutely love these beans. The printed recipe now has a star at the top meaning this will be a customary regular with us. Awesome dish to bring to BBQs. Thank you so much for this recipe. ❤️